


Moonlighting as a Romantic

by Nitrobot



Series: Candlelight [4]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, People Watching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-11
Updated: 2015-08-11
Packaged: 2018-04-10 20:34:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4406567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nitrobot/pseuds/Nitrobot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A sniper's life is strict solitude, but not everything seen through the scope has to end in a burst of blood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moonlighting as a Romantic

Perceptor's guard shift always started as soon as the horizon started to bleed sunlight. By the time he trudged to his post the sun was behind him, battering against his back. It was a carefully calculated position- he'd be starkly silhouetted against the light, but it saved him the risk of having its glare blinding him.

Besides, he wasn't worried about being seen just yet. 

Always a breem or two after he first set up his rifle, a platoon would trudge through the metal wasteland that made up Autobot territory. Target practice was a tedious but necessary daily exercise. The order of the training squads always changed, some bots assigned to different duties and others taken to different ranges depending on the solar cycle. But if he was lucky, fresh mint armour would catch his reticule and demand his attention. It was the only time he ever got to see Moonracer outside of the rare command assembly, when all bots in the base would gather together for mass issue of new orders.

Iacon command had been silent for the past decacycle, leaving the camp with nothing to do but train and Perceptor with nothing to do but guard, and watch, and wait. 

There was a far away _tink_ as Moonracer took out another target rapidly whizzing about in front of her. She'd be an incredible sharpshooter one day. 

Perceptor zoned out, pulling his helm away from his rifle and looking out over the distance to his left. As lovely as the sight of Moonracer was, he wasn't about to let the camp get swarmed by Decepticons or worse because he was distracted by some sparkling infatuation.

If he still had his lab work, he wouldn't even have to worry about this combat slag. Or, more likely, he'd just watch Moonracer from the window and risk mixing flammables together.  
He shuttered his weary optics, sighed, and took up his sight again. 

Rather than seeing a sweep of the training ground, he saw a blue optic staring back at him just before he fell backward in fright.

It was either his high-pitched shriek or his frozen faceplate that got the remorseful look from Moonracer as her helm popped up over his outpost shelf.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry! I just saw you had a Kolkian manufactured weapon and I've never seen one before and even this one's been decomissioned so-" Her vocaliser worked in overdrive as she babbled her apology, and even Perceptor's processor had trouble keeping up with her words. Not to mention getting over the general shock of... well, Moonracer herself. 

"It's my fault, dear," he eventually managed to wedge in, stopping her in her tracks. "You should always scan environments before taking up aim." It was one of the most basic lessons in a gunmech's arsenal; he deserved to be knocked back on his aft for forgetting it.

Moonracer had calmed, but there was still energon flushing her faceplate as she rubbed her helm nervously. "I...I didn't mean to scare you... You're Perceptor, right?"

He raised an eyeridge in further surprise and tried to ignore how abruptly his spark rate increased. "Correct. And... you are Moonracer." He prayed she wouldn't ask how he knew her name, but in that case he could at least find out how she knew his. Primus, and here he thought he'd left logic games back in Protihex. 

Moonracer still seemed to have trouble making contact with his optics. "My practice class finished up early, and... I got curious," she explained with a shrug, folding her servos behind her back. "I usually see you up here." She nodded to his barren set-up.

"It's the best place to guard the west from," Perceptor found himself saying. "Full view of the land ahead, no debris to hide enemy scouts-"

"Don't you get lonely up here?" Moonracer interjected, leaning on top of the shelf and holding her helm up by her chin. Quite frankly, it was adorable, and Perceptor had to wrench his processor back on track before he could say anything. 

"Sometimes," he replied with a hint of confusion. "Though mostly, I enjoy the peace."

Moonracer's optics widened slightly and dropped gaze to the ground again as a digit scratched at her chin. "I'm... I'm sorry if I'm... disturbing your peace."

"No, please, don't say that," Perceptor rushed to correct. "I'm... actually quite glad to have you." Of course he left out the why to that statement, but the omitted version seemed to work from how Moonracer lit up again, both in optics and spirit. 

"Speaking of which, you don't have to stay down there," Perceptor continued, offering a servo to lift her up beside him. She was much lighter than she looked, and he almost ended up falling over again as he pulled her up.

There wasn't much to look at aside from the wasteland that stretched around the camp, but Moonracer seemed awed nonetheless. "Do you take rations up here as well?" she asked, sitting down and swinging her legs over the shelf edge. 

"I find it's less trouble than going to the canteen," Perceptor admitted, awkwardly seating himself like her. She made it look so much easier. 

Moonracer smiled across at him, still swinging her legs and dipping a servo into her subspace. "Do you mind if I have mines just now as well?"

Perceptor was still dazed from the joy or her smile, but he hoped it wouldn't show through his vocaliser. "Not at all."

Moonracer gave herself an energon cube and nipped it open with her denta, slowly sucking out the contents. Perceptor had never seen energon taken like that and was half tempted to copy her with his own cube. With how quickly his aft and legs were going numb though, he decided it wasn't a good idea to try imitating younger bots.

The energon seemed to taste different with company, and now Perceptor knew why so many bots were willing to drag themselves to the canteen for refueling. Was it illogical to say it actually tasted _better_? 

Somehow, Moonracer finshed her cube when he was only half-way through. "Anyway, I'm sorry I bothered you for so long, I'll let you get back to work." She lept off the shelf and down to the ground, brushing dust off her legs before looking back up at him and waving a farewell.

"Guess I'll see you around, Percy." 

As he waved back, Perceptor couldn't help but feel like he'd just had his very first date.


End file.
